Just thought I would drop some pics of my '65 before the parts and my arc welder come in and the car looks like a decrepit skeleton. Ok well here are some before pics of the car when it was in Maui.









This restoration and custom work is gonna be frame up. So it may take a while. lol Will keep you guys posted throughout the restoration. As of now its an automatic, but will be converted into a manual with a t-56, though if you know anyone who is selling a TR-6060 let me know. haha

Looks great already.

Will you be sticking with the original 396 Rat, or swapping in something a little more modern (i.e. a fuel injected aluminum block and heads Gen III or IV) before changing out the THM400 for the T-56? I know that with some work a Tremec will bolt up to a BBC, but it seems like an awful lot of work just to swap the trans for something so modern and not yank the motor at the same time. If you end up sticking with the stock block, I presume that it won't be stock for long.

Sorry for all the questions but I grew up on Bow Ties. I have to say that I'm amazed at how straight the body is. And as much as I'm a third pedal guy, a B-Body is actually one of the few cars that I'd be comfortable in with an Automatic Transmission. People don't realize how much work it is to drive a car that big and have to shift gears. At least we have synchromesh gearboxes and hydraulic clutches today. Must have been a lot of work to shift one of those babies around back in the day.

Oh and BTW, how's 9 MPG on the wallet these days? LOL. No O/D must be a bish on the freeway.

+1 pretty damn good condition

Nice car man. Not a whole lot more you need to do to it.

Haha Thanks, But if only 7 pictures could have a thousand different angles. lol Thats what I thought too when I saw the pictures. Then I pulled the doors apart, pulled some carpet, haha different story. lol but not too bad, not like its not fixable. just some hard work.

Hmmm, as to your questions. Not a problem. Well no I wont be keepin the 396 in the long run. But I will be building it up slowly while its in the Impala. I might even EFI convert the damn thing. lol Nothing too extreme for the upgrades maybe lighter crank, H-beam rods, forged pistons, hydraulic roller cams (mild to moderate lift) 9 to 9.5 compression, gonna be tuned for SC most likely a Procharger with 15 psi. Haha then im gonna practically give it away to my friend for his monte carlo, if he ever buys one.

Ultimately Im gonna start with a fresh ls7 or lsx bare block. Work my way from there. I suppose it will take a while building both engines at the same time. Though I wont spend no money on the procharger. haha

Yeah the car is a damn boat! Feels like driving a big azz truck with the damn steering wheel. haha I really need to stiffin up the suspension though. Makes me feel as if Im driving an ice cream truck when I make turns.

Hmmm gas... I guess it doesnt really hurt me because I dont drive it all the time. But I definitely notice it. lol I think the mileage is more like 10mpg. haha

I wish that was the case. The doors are probably the most problematic. The passenger door is fully rotted through. It might be a little beyond saving for my skills. Kinda looking for new doors. The whole window assembly is pretty much rusted through everything on the inside. Driver side door isnt as bad. Only the bottom of the door is rusted. some parts rusted through but nothing a little replace of skin cant handle. I guess when the weatherstrips went they truly went and no one felt like replacing them. hahahaha

Make sure you keep it as close to factory as possible. It's lookin good though.

any new pics? Car is pimp!

looks really clean

yeah looks pretty nice engine bay need some Cleaning up but i am sure it will be sick when its done.

Nah no new pics. Havent really done much except change out weatherstrips. Tryna find some doors first since those are the hardest to find. But will post when the real work starts.

Thanks! yeah it should be lookin sweeeeettt

haha gotta hurry up and do this thing so I can buy me a G37

If you need any help, my friends down at autopro are chevy experts. they pretty good at finding hard to find GM stuff too being that they work primarily with corvettes.

sick